Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

menos_16 · 2016-05-11 09:10:41

Hello people,

I was running KDE 4.5 with two graphics cards (one nvidia and the integrated radeon) using the xinerama option, and my desktop was working fine, two monitors in paralell and I could move X-windows between them without problem....

Xorg was configured with 3 files, one for each device (nvidia and amd) and one more for layout,

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "mult desk"
Screen 0 "DLeft"
Screen 1 "DRig" RightOf "DLeft"
Option "Xinerama" "on"
Option "Clone" "off"
EndSection

THIS IS MY PREVIOUS CONFIGURATION

But with the update to plasma (kde5) I still haven't found the properly configuration of Xorg to use the 2 monitors, (2 GPUs) in only one desktop with plasma, Xinerama isn't working on plasma, and kde4 is discontinued (and difficult to go back from plasma).

Can someone help me to configure xorg with plasma and 2 gpus? my actual configuration in only 1 file:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Radeon0"
BusID "PCI:0:1:0"
Driver "radeon"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Radeon1"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "radeon"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
Option "PreferredMode" "1360x768"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
Option "PreferredMode" "1360x768"
Option "RightOf" "Monitor0"
Option "Position" "1360 0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "PIzq"
Device "Radeon0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "PDer"
Device "Radeon1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout"
Screen 0 "PDer"
Screen 1 "PIzq" LeftOf "PDer"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

But with this configuration, the left monitor only show a blank screen, (with an X mouse available but without window manager )... :( :(

My actual desktop

edit: now I'm using 2 Ati card, because I think that XrandR is not compatible with multiGPU, so, i'm using 2 ATIS to use the same driver... this maybe was wrong?

of course

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep EE

[ 37.408] Current Operating System: Linux walter 4.5.3-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat May 7 20:43:57 CEST 2016 x86_64
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.

Last edited by menos_16 (2016-05-24 11:39:37)

jasonwryan · 2016-05-11 09:12:10

Please edit your post and choose a title that actually reflects your issue, the current one would appear as meaningless in a search engine:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … ow_to_post

menos_16 · 2016-05-11 09:17:25

thanks, it fixed

menos_16 · 2016-05-12 15:39:02

my hopes were dashed

Lone_Wolf · 2016-05-13 12:55:19

xrandr can handle multi driver setups.

Are you using a hybrid graphics setup with an integrated gpu and a discrete card or 2 discrete cards ?
If integrated + discrete with opensource drivers, the PRIME wiki page should be helpful.

Checked your initial post and you mention having one integrated radeon there.
PRIME is the page you want to look at.

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2016-05-13 12:59:35)

menos_16 · 2016-05-13 13:01:35

Thanks for your reply

I'm using an integrated GPU + discrete card (but i could use 2 discrete cards)

I will read this wiki, thanks for the info, I was sure that RandR was supporting multigpu by
this , in fact X server is running on both monitors... (but obviously not very well)

Ok, I see your edit

Last edited by menos_16 (2016-05-13 13:02:27)

menos_16 · 2016-05-18 11:06:10

Sorry but PRIME didn't solve my problem

PRIME is for the use one GPU with inaccesible video output ...but only one output, so this is not my case, i want to use the two outputs in an extended desktop.

looking for other configurations... but thanks for your help

Trilby · 2016-05-18 11:18:37

Sorry if I'm missing something obvious here - I've never worked with multiple GPUs - but I don't think xrandr or xorg configuration is relevant to this problem. X is running with an extended desktop across both monitors. The problem is withing your window manager which is failing to recognize this extra space and manage windows on it. You can try other window managers to confirm, and if I'm correct, you should be looking into settings for Kwin (or whatever it is now).

menos_16 · 2016-05-18 11:37:59

Ok I would try with others WMs

surfatwork · 2016-05-18 11:49:18

OP, have you checked kscreen?

menos_16 · 2016-05-18 12:31:12

other WMs work in similar way of Kwin... the left monitor only show a blank screen, xinerama option didn't work in any case...

(I just tested gnome classic and openbox desktop/WM) I will see how it works Kscreen

now my xorg.conf is :

section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier  "Extended"
    Screen  0   "Screen1" 1360 0
    Screen  1   "Screen0" 0 0
    Option      "Xinerama" "off"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
  Identifier "Screen0"
  Monitor    "Monitor0"
  Device     "Radeon0"
  DefaultDepth 24
EndSection

Section "Screen"
  Identifier "Screen1"
  Monitor    "Monitor1"
  Device     "Radeon1"
  DefaultDepth 24
EndSection

* Sections about monitor and devices were omited

Last edited by menos_16 (2016-05-18 12:31:43)

menos_16 · 2016-05-18 12:57:39

I have checked kscreen, and it is a module for KDE, to configure the multiple monitors, I understand that is enabled by default in system settings/ display and monitors; and, this config option only show one monitor in my system...

I sorry, but it is all that I can say now, kscreen only detecs one monitor/display...

the output of kscreen-console ...

START: Requesting Config
kscreen: starting external backend launcher for ""
Received config. Took 33 milliseconds
Screen:
        maxSize: QSize(16384, 16384)
        minSize: QSize(320, 200)
        currentSize: QSize(1360, 768)

-----------------------------------------------------

Id:  147
Name:  "HDMI-0"
Type:  "Unknown"
Connected:  false
-----------------------------------------------------

Id:  148
Name:  "VGA-0"
Type:  "Unknown"
Connected:  true
Enabled:  true
Primary:  true
Rotation:  1
Pos:  QPoint(0,0)
MMSize:  QSize(406, 229)
Size:  QSize(1360, 768)
Clones:  None
Mode:  "86"
Preferred Mode:  "86"
Preferred modes:  ("86")
Modes: 
         "86"    ""   QSize(1360, 768)   60.0152
         "87"    ""   QSize(1024, 768)   75.0762
         "88"    ""   QSize(1024, 768)   75.0286
         "89"    ""   QSize(1024, 768)   60.0038
         "90"    ""   QSize(832, 624)   74.5513
         "91"    ""   QSize(800, 600)   75
         "92"    ""   QSize(800, 600)   60.3165
         "93"    ""   QSize(640, 480)   75
         "94"    ""   QSize(640, 480)   60
         "95"    ""   QSize(720, 400)   70.0817
EDID Info: 
        Device ID:  "xrandr-W1943-112275"
        Name:  "W1943"
        Vendor:  ""
        Serial:  "112275"
        EISA ID:  ""
        Hash:  "3fedeb6df243ddae2463ce0a04edd2ae"
        Width:  41
        Height:  23
        Gamma:  2
        Red:  QQuaternion(scalar:1, vector:(0.640625, 0.332031, 0))
        Green:  QQuaternion(scalar:1, vector:(0.300781, 0.608398, 0))
        Blue:  QQuaternion(scalar:1, vector:(0.144531, 0.0732422, 0))
        White:  QQuaternion(scalar:1, vector:(0.313477, 0.329102, 0))

-----------------------------------------------------

Id:  149
Name:  "DVI-0"
Type:  "Unknown"
Connected:  false

while xrandr whether detects two GPUs....
xrandr --listproviders

Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0x96 cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 4 outputs: 3 associated providers: 0 name:ARUBA @ pci:0000:00:01.0
Provider 1: id: 0x54 cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 2 outputs: 3 associated providers: 0 name:ATI Radeon X550 (RV370) 5B63 (PCIE) @ pci:0000:01:00.0

Lone_Wolf · 2016-05-18 13:59:32

Menos_16,

unless both your monitors are connected to your integrated gpu, you do need a PRIME setup .

How are your monitors connected and which card should render for which monitor?

menos_16 · 2016-05-18 15:06:51

I have 2 graphics cards attached with two monitors.
One with integrated GPU radeon and the other with discrete GPU radeon too... both with VGA connector.

With KDE4 i was working with xinerama and two GPUs in only one extended desktop without problem... and everything was working properly so i don't know why is not possible with plasma5 ...

The PRIME setup not resolve my problem because i want to use the two monitors together and at the same time. (I think)

Last edited by menos_16 (2016-05-18 15:08:33)

Lone_Wolf · 2016-05-18 21:04:55

I don't think plasma5 is the reason xinerama no longer works, as you had same problems with gnome classic and openbox.
A change in X maybe related to config-files seems more likely.

Multihead#RandR states xrandr can replace xinerama in most setups.

For your case PRIME offers 2 possible configurations :

Reverse Prime
both screens available, rendering is done by integrated gpu (low performance,but also low power usage)
(NO configuration file, monitor setup is handled by xrandr )

Discrete Card as Primary GPU
both screens available, rendering done by discrete graphics card ( good performance, high power usage)
needs configuration file and xrandr command

menos_16 · 2016-05-24 10:05:52

Hello againg people, thanks for your help,

I've been testing reverse prime setup but without success,

my xorg.conf now is the folowing, i have changed the ati discrete card, for my previous nvidia, so my config now is...

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier  "Extended"
    Screen  0   "nvidia1"
    Inactive    "Radeon0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
  Identifier "nvidia1"
  Device     "nvidia1"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "nvidia1"
        Driver          "nouveau"
        BusID           "PCI:1:0:0"
        Option          "DPI"                "96 x 96"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
  Identifier "Radeon0"
  Device     "Radeon0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "Radeon0"
        BusID           "PCI:0:1:0"
        Driver          "radeon"
        Option          "DPI"                   "96 x 96"
        Option          "SWcursor"              "off" #software cursor might be necessary on some rare occasions, hence set off by default
        Option          "EnablePageFlip"        "on"  #supported on all R/RV/RS4xx and older hardware, and set on by default
        Option          "AccelMethod"           "EXA" #valid options are XAA, EXA and Glamor. Default value varies per-GPU.
        Option          "EXAVSync"              "off" #default is off, otherwise on. Only works if EXA activated
        Option          "EXAPixmaps"            "on"  #when on icreases 2D performance, but may also cause artifacts on some old cards. Only works i$
        Option          "AccelDFS"              "on"  #default is off, read the radeon manpage for more information
EndSection

like r.prime setup sets.

if i run xrandr --listproviders the correct information appears

Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0xa4 cap: 0x7, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload crtcs: 2 outputs: 2 associated providers: 0 name:nouveau
Provider 1: id: 0x56 cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 4 outputs: 3 associated providers: 0 name:ARUBA @ pci:0000:00:01.0

but and when i run xrandr --setprovideroutputsource 0x56 0xa4 the second video output appears on KDE system settings / Display Configuration, but i can't enable it. When I click on checkbox "Display:enabled" and click "apply" or "OK" the checkbox is automatically disabled and nothing happens ...

Where can i find the system log with info about this....

thanks again.

But after some testing, the following command worked fine.

xrandr --output VGA-1-0 --auto --output HDMI-2 --auto --right-of VGA-1-0

yeah, it works , and all the load is on discrete card, (better for my)

I woult try more options to get this config loads on boot.

Last edited by menos_16 (2016-05-24 10:22:44)

Lone_Wolf · 2016-05-24 13:22:29

That gui applet is probably a frontend for xrandr , for multi-gpu / multi-screen setups under X using xrandr directly is the way to go.

The easiest way to make this thisconfiguration stick is to put the xrandr commands in ~/.xinitrc (global one should work also ,but that's less flexible ) and have them executed before you start KDE .

BitterCynic · 2016-09-14 07:28:10

Hopefully relevant necro?

Just wanted to add that this helped me figure out my own set up.
In my case i have no integrated graphics, instead i am preparing to set up QEMU with vga passthrough and will use two different AMD GPUs, an HD5770 and an HD7870. So i have one monitor connected to the primary GPU and the other monitor to the secondary GPU, until i found the fix, the outputs to the second monitor were never detected.

The useful bit:

#frst of all useful to read
man xrandr

#lists the detected gpus
xrandr --listproviders
#example output in my case
Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0xa3 cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 6 outputs: 4 associated providers: 1 name:ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series @ pci:0000:05:00.0
Provider 1: id: 0x59 cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 6 outputs: 4 associated providers: 1 name:PITCAIRN @ pci:0000:06:00.0

#displays the currently available outputs and their names (like HDMI-0 or DVI-1-2),(before the fix it only listed the outputs of my main gpu)
xrandr -q

#the first part of the fix for me (DON'T MIX THESE UP LIKE I DID AT FIRST: provider - the secondary gpu that only adds extra outputs, source - the gpu that actually does the work)
xrandr --setprovideroutputsource provider source
#in my case
xrandr --setprovideroutputsource 0x59 0xa3
#after doing this "xrandr -q" listed also all the outputs that my second gpu has

#and the second part of the fix being the same command that the OP ended up using
xrandr --output HDMI-0 --auto --output DVI-1-2 --auto --right-of HDMI-0
#HDMI-0 and DVI-1-2 are output names that i found to be the ones connected to the monitors after looking at "xrandr -q"
#--right-of "output name" obviously places the new output to the right of the previously given output, could also be "--left-of" etc, just check "man xrandr" for more

Arch Linux

#1 2016-05-11 09:10:41

Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#2 2016-05-11 09:12:10

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#3 2016-05-11 09:17:25

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#4 2016-05-12 15:39:02

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#5 2016-05-13 12:55:19

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#6 2016-05-13 13:01:35

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#7 2016-05-18 11:06:10

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#8 2016-05-18 11:18:37

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#9 2016-05-18 11:37:59

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#10 2016-05-18 11:49:18

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#11 2016-05-18 12:31:12

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#12 2016-05-18 12:57:39

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#13 2016-05-18 13:59:32

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#14 2016-05-18 15:06:51

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#15 2016-05-18 21:04:55

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#16 2016-05-24 10:05:52

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#17 2016-05-24 13:22:29

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

#18 2016-09-14 07:28:10

Re: Multi-monitor config... Plasma5 and XrandR; how to config [SOLVED]

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